The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

An open world RPG done right. Thats what many critics are saying about the latest mainline entry in to the Legend of Zelda franchise. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild stays true in many ways to the good ole Zelda formula: Link is the voiceless protagonist on an adventure to save Zelda (or the world) while making his way through themed dungeons and picking up new items/functions on the way. These familiar elements make the game comfortable, but what makes the game shine is the new world and how you live in it.

What people seem to like most about the game is that you are just thrown in to it, and aren’t given explicit direction of where to go and what to do next. This is not how most open world RPGs of this era, like Horizon: Zero Dawn and The Witcher, are built. This offers a rare sense of true exploration as you take third-person control of Link and travel to any spot you can lay your eyes on.

It also seems Breath of the Wild took some inspiration from the survival game genre that sprouted in between this release and the previous mainline Zelda release. The new crafting and raw materials seem like direct inspiration from Minecraft, and the clothing and temperature management seem like cues taken from games like Ark. BotW weaves these features beautifully in to the new world filled with familiar enemies and allies.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is just a fun game. Period. End of story. Whether your a die-hard Zelda fan who has played every game (including some of the disaster spin-offs), or only know Zelda games from internet references and friends, you WILL have fun playing this game. Don’t be swayed by the console fanboy criticisms, this Nintendo Switch launch title is everything it was cracked up to be.